Honda Jazz Hybrid
Honda Jazz Hybrid
Honda is planning to introduce their new fighter in the hybrid war with Toyota in December of this year, namely the Honda Jazz Hybrid.
This will happen on the Australian market where the Toyota Prius C went on sale in March at a much lower price than the Honda Insight which had the title of the country’s cheapest hybrid till that time.
The director of Honda Australia said that he isn’t planning on entering a “price war” with Toyota and that making the Jazz Hybrid the cheapest petrol-electric vehicle is not their primary goal. These being said however, he did mention that he is hoping for the new hybrid to be priced bellow the $25,000 price point, which would bring it much closer to the current price of the Prius C, $23,990.
The idea is to make sure that the Jazz will offer the best value for money, to make a competitive car and price is as good as possible and then let the market determine what happens form there.
The model will feature a 65kW/121Nm 1.3-litre petrol engine alongside a 10kW/Nm electric motor, providing a combined output of 75kW of power and 199Nm of torque. The continuously variable transmission supplies the front wheels with drive and makes the Jazz Hybrid accelerate from 0-100km/h in 12.1 seconds.
The European combined test cycle showed that the model uses 4.5 litres of fuel per 100km, thus making it 22% more fuel efficient than the non-hybrid 1.3-litre Jazz GLi, however, and more importantly in this case, 15% more than the Prius C.
That difference isn’t negligible but it isn’t a major one either, it will all eventually come down to the final price of the Jazz Hybrid and its features and options.
